I spent most of an afternoon getting the pass door adjusted nicely in the opening, with one minor problem. When the door is closed, it's very difficult to lock. With the door open, the mechanism is nice and smooth.

I'm pretty sure that the star wheel is stopping on a 1/2 tooth and interfering with the locking arm. Is there a way to clock the star wheel so that it's fully engaged with the striker? Since I'm happy with the door gaps, I'd rather not move the striker if I can help it.

TIA
Loren

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Wife's '07 Lexus ES350; 117 actuator motors and I can't see the engine.

I spent most of an afternoon getting the pass door adjusted nicely in the opening, with one minor problem. When the door is closed, it's very difficult to lock. With the door open, the mechanism is nice and smooth.

I'm pretty sure that the star wheel is stopping on a 1/2 tooth and interfering with the locking arm. Is there a way to clock the star wheel so that it's fully engaged with the striker? Since I'm happy with the door gaps, I'd rather not move the striker if I can help it.

TIA
Loren

Only way to adjust that is to move the striker out. Did you lube all of the moving parts inside the door, and the star wheel? That may help if you haven't. If you roll the window down and use a good strong flashlight you can see the door latch & lock, and spray a little penetrating oil on the mechanism. If you decide to move the striker out be sure and mark around it with a fine felt tip pen and only move it about 1/16". Make sure it doesn't move up or down.

This question comes up frequently, I will explain the problem again...your door latch is worn.
Inside the latch on the same shaft is a latch wheel, it has teeth similar but square edged as the teeth you see on the outside of the latch.
The door has a latch pawl that engages the hidden teeth and a separate lock pawl.
The latch pawl wears along with the latch wheel which puts it out of synch with the lock pawl.
You can remove the latch and grind some clearance into the lock pawl to correct the problem.
I bought a truck with a set of repro door latches installed and they seem to work fine.

This question comes up frequently, I will explain the problem again...your door latch is worn.
Inside the latch on the same shaft is a latch wheel, it has teeth similar but square edged as the teeth you see on the outside of the latch.
The door has a latch pawl that engages the hidden teeth and a separate lock pawl.
The latch pawl wears along with the latch wheel which puts it out of synch with the lock pawl.
You can remove the latch and grind some clearance into the lock pawl to correct the problem.
I bought a truck with a set of repro door latches installed and they seem to work fine.

Fortunately that is not always the problem as you seem to suggest. I always try the easiest solution before digging deeper into repairs. Moving a striker plate 1/16 of an inch is not a big deal compared to disassembling a door and removing the latch mechanism. That is why I always suggest it first. I asked him to let us know how that goes and if it doesn't work then is the time to dig deeper....

Latch wear is always the problem if the door is hard to lock when closed. You can create the same condition with the door open by placing force on the latch gear with your finger while trying to lock the door.

Latch wear is always the problem if the door is hard to lock when closed. You can create the same condition with the door open by placing force on the latch gear with your finger while trying to lock the door.